Luis Alberto Lopez Vargas (born 21 August 1993) is a Mexican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the

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featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title since December 2022.

Professional boxing career

Early career

Lopez made his professional debut against Francisco Javier Pacheco on 6 November 2015. He won the fight by split decision. Vargas amassed a 16–1 record during the next three years, winning half of those fights by way of stoppage. At the end of this run, Lopez-Vargas was booked to face Ray Ximenez for the vacant WBO International

title on 28 February 2019. He his United States debut by technical decision, with scores of 80–72, 78–74 and 77–75. The fight was stopped after eight rounds, due to a cut above Ximenez's left eye, which was caused by an accidental clash of heads. Lopez-Vargas faced Ruben Villa on 10 May 2019, in the main event of the ShoBox: The New Generation, once again fighting for the vacant WBO International featherweight title. Villa handed Lopez-Vargas his second professional loss, winning the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 97–93, 98–92 and 96–94. After successfully bouncing back against two journeymen opponents, Israel Rojas on 30 August 2019 and Marco Antonio Monteros on 21 September 2019, Lopez was booked to face the undefeated Cristian Baez. Lopez-Vargas won the fight by a fifth-round technical knockout. Lopez next faced Andy Vences on 7 July 2020, at the MGM Grand in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Despite coming into the fight as an underdog, he won the fight by an upset split decision. The judges scored the fight 96–94 in his favor, while the third judge awarded the same scorecard to Vences. In his second fight of 2021, Lopez-Vargas faced the undefeated Gabriel Flores Jr. on 10 September 2021, and once again entered the fight in the role of an underdog. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 100–90 for Lopez-Vargas, while the third judge scored it 98–92 for him. Following these two upset victories, Lopez was booked to face the undefeated Isaac Lowe in an

featherweight title eliminator bout. The fight took place at the

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on 3 December 2021, and was broadcast by

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and IFL TV. Lopez-Vargas won the fight by a seventh-round technical knockout. Lowe was floored with a body strike in the final minute of the seventh round, leaving him unable to beat the ten count. Lopez-Vargas knocked his opponent down twice prior to the stoppage, once in the first and once in the second round. Twenty days later, on 23 December 2021, Lopez-Vargas re-signed with

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

IBF featherweight champion

Lopez vs. Warrington

Lopez challenged the reigning

champion

Josh Warrington Josh Warrington (born 14 November 1990) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world featherweight champion, having held the IBF title between 2018 and 2022. At regional level, he held the British, Commonwealth, European and WBC I ...

on 10 December 2022, at the First Direct Arena in

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. He won the fight by majority decision. Judges Mike Fitzgerald and Adam Height scored the fight 115–113 in favor of Lopez, while judge Howard Foster scored it an even 114–114 draw. Lopez complained of what he perceived to be dirty tactics from Warrington in the post-fight interview, stating: "He even hit me on my legs. I don’t think the referee did his job in protecting the fighters tonight". Aside from suffering a cut above his left eye due to a headbutt, it was furthermore revealed after the fight that Lopez had fractured his left thumb during the bout.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Luis Alberto Lopez - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Luis Alberto Living people 1993 births Mexican male boxers Sportspeople from Mexicali Featherweight boxers Super-featherweight boxers